Month: September 2007

Source: Fairfax WorkCover is investigating how a man came to be crushed by half a tonne of glass inside a shipping container in Sydney’s south-west. Police say the 33-year-old man was working inside the container at Padstow about 1.30pm (AEST) on Friday when he was pinned to a wall by sheets of glass, weighing about 500kg, …

Source: The Territory News A TEENAGER has had a part of one of his toes sliced off by a 400tonne steel pylon while working on Darwin’s billion-dollar waterfront development. The Northern Territory News understands his right foot was hit by the pylon as it was being driven into the ground by a pile driver. The steel …

WorkSafe Vic A Craigieburn man was today fined for fraudulently obtaining more than $6,100 in workplace injury compensation payments and for making false declarations in relation to his workplace injury claim. The Broadmeadows Magistrates Court heard that Emmanual Ioane was working as a storeman at an IGA Distribution Centre in Laverton North in 2006 when …

Source: Fairfax A 37-year-old pilot has died after his helicopter crashed during a cattle muster in Western Australia’s far north, authorities say. Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) air crash investigators from Canberra are expected to arrive on Wednesday at the crash site near Wyndham. WA safety watchdog WorkSafe would assist the ATSB with the investigation, said …

Source: Worksafe Vic Using air compressors to inflate small tyres could lead to serious injuries, WorkSafe has warned. A 27-year-old Warrnambool man last week lost an eye and suffered a head injury after a new wheel-barrow wheel exploded as he inflated it using a compressor at a local business. He was flown to the Alfred Hospital. …

Source: Herald Sun RAILCORP in NSW is in the grip of a workplace drugs epidemic, with soaring rates of ecstasy, cannabis and amphetamine use detected among track workers in random tests. One in 13 contract employees working in critical safety roles on lines failed drugs tests this year, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. The shock rate …

Source: ABC WorkSafe Western Australia is waiting to speak to the people who witnessed the death of a 25-year-old man in a Joondalup shopping centre carpark. The South Korean man was killed about 7:00am WST, at the Lakeside shopping centre. A WorkSafe inspector was sent to the scene last night, and investigations into the death …

Source: AAP Two people are in hospital after inhaling fumes from a hydrochloric acid spill at a business in Sydney’s south-west. About 100 workers from a transport company were evacuated after 15 litres of the deadly substance spilled at the Ingleburn premises about 8am today. Firefighters wearing protective gear and breathing from air tanks cleaned …

Source: ABC News A Western Power worker has been taken to hospital in a critical condition after receiving an electric shockat the Wembley Downs Primary School. A spokesman for Saint John’s Ambulance says the man was working at a power box about 9:00 am when the man’s clothes caught fire. He has burns to 40 per …

Source: The Coast Daily Confusion about the implications and requirements of the Independent Contractors Act, introduced in March this year, still abounds. But it won’t be an excuse for owners of building and construction companies who potentially face massive fines for non-compliance. Speaking last Wednesday at a construction industry expo held at Lake Kawana Community Centre, …

Source: The Courier Mail A MAN has died after he was crushed to death by a loader in an horrific workplace incident in Brisbane’s far north this afternoon. The man, 35, was working at a building site in Warner, near Strathpine, when the loader rolled on sloping ground before landing on the man and pinning …

Source: Fairfax Digital An explosion at an electricity substation in Quakers Hill in Sydney’s west this morning has injured one worker and sent a power surge through the area, police say. Emergency crews were called to the Integral Energy zone substation on Chaplin Crescent at 8.30am after reports of a loud explosion. Integral Energy confirmed an explosion had …

Source: WorkCover NSW WorkCover NSW is investigating an incident where a 27 year old worker sustained serious crush injuries to his leg and foot while operating a forklift in a Dubbo factory yesterday. It is understood the man was operating a forklift with a pack of steel around 12 metres in length when the load …

Source: Fairfax Digital A WEEK before the accident that left her with permanent damage to her left eye, Jess Dryden warned her bosses about the slippery floor. She had already fallen over once in the fish and chip shop and burnt her leg with the caustic cleaning agent that had spilled onto the floor. On the night …

Source: ABC Online The family of a woman who was crushed by a gate at a Nambour shopping centre two years ago are distraught the matter has been adjourned again. Kathryn Jones, 45, was crushed to death by a 900 kilogram industrial gate in a workplace accident in south-east Queensland in December 2005. Nambour Plaza’s …

Source: Herald Sun A WORKER has had four fingers severed in an accident at a plastics factory in Victoria’s north. The 24-year-old man was working alone with a plastics moulding machine in the Shepparton factory when four fingers of his right hand were sliced off, WorkSafe Victoria said. A Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) spokeswoman said …

Source: Fairfax Digital A Victorian postman has died after being hit by a truck while on his rounds in Melbourne. Rohan Day, 42, was killed instantly when his motorbike was hit by the truck at Mt Waverley in Melbourne’s east at about 9.30am (AEST) today. Mr Day, from the southern suburb of Parkdale, had just started …

Source: Bloomberg BP ELIMINATED safety equipment including first-aid kits and fire-smothering blankets to cut operating costs, according to documents shown to jurors in the first trial over a fatal explosion at its Texas refinery in 2005. “This is a prime example of putting money over the safety of our people here,” Sam Mancuso, a health …

Source: Warnambool Standard A PORTLAND man died yesterday after being run over by a crane on the Princes Highway. Sergeant Bob Meek pf Portland police said the 53-year-old, who was the operator of the crane, was driving west when it broke down at Allestree, just past Caledonian Hill Road. “The crane broke down half-way up …

Source: The West WorkSafe is investigating the death of a 68-year-old farmer at Manjimup yesterday morning, who it is believed was killed after being struck by a falling branch. The man is understood to have been cutting down trees at the time. WorkSafe WA commissioner Nina Lyhne said the death was a tragedy and would …

Source: Fairfax Digital The mother of a Melbourne man who was electrocuted while at work says a $30 pair of gloves could have saved her son’s life. Lighting company Camden Neon Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $300,000 over the death of Sion Rees, who was electrocuted while changing light bulbs in a display at …